Inbound marketing is all about generating leads. Site views, retweets, likes, clicks, blog comments and open emails are great, but leads are the bottom line. How do inbound marketers get those leads? There are so many platforms and channels to use, how does an inbound marketer choose what’s best?

The chart to your right should give you a pretty good idea. If you stick to the core principles of inbound marketing then you are destined to generate leads.

Social Media

Is social media right for you? If you find the proper channel it is. The stats speak for themselves. Social media is second to only SEO as a lead generator. Engagement with customers and potential customers, increased brand recognition, showing that you’re company is on the cutting edge of marketing techniques, showing that you’re able to have a great time and be playful are just a few reasons that social media is a great lead generator. Not to state the obvious, but social media is fairly affordable. But again, I’m not the one to listen to, that chart to your right should tell you everything you need to know about why you need to devise a great social media strategy.

Blogs

A quality blog is not an easy thing to put together. Cranking out more than one quality piece a week is what separates the professionals from the amateurs. The rewards reaped from great blogs though, are innumerable. They encompass all four of the core inbound principles. Blogs provide a haven for SEO best practices; incorporating keywords, having quality content and indexed pages. Blogs are the perfect thing to promote via social media. Blog subscribers will give you a reason to utilize email marketing. Take another look at the chart. Now try coming up with a valid argument against the merits of blogging.

SEO

SEO is hard. SEO takes patience. SEO is also the number one lead generator for inbound marketing. Everything you do should utilize a detailed SEO strategy, both keywords and long-tail keywords. Using Google Analytics or a marketing platform like HubSpot will help guide you. The day you type in one of your keywords on Google and find an article that you wrote, or even your homepage on the first page of the search engine, your efforts will be proven. Like social media, SEO is a free tool. It requires tactical labor and careful strategy. As the chart indicates, the leads will come. The leads will come in droves.

Email Marketing

As the chart indicates, email marketing is a successful lead generator for both inbound and outbound marketers. Email marketing is a great way to speak directly to a consumer. A well-crafted email doesn’t just promote your product, it actually educates your potential leads and makes them want to go to your site to learn more. Don’t create spam, create a masterpiece. Don’t blast to everyone, write to each persona as if they’re your only customer. If you can master this technique, you can plainly see that you will be a master lead generator.

The inbound methodology works. The stats are literally laid out in front of you. This chart is one of nine that HubSpot generously put together to prove that ROI on inbound marketing is no myth. To get a better glimpse of the power of inbound, click the button below.

Revenue River often times will publish posts from guest authors who are either looking to start a career in the inbound marketing field or have valuable expert insight from experience within different areas of the industry. To learn more about a specific guest author, look for a short bio at the bottom of every article written.